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It wasn’t that long ago that the Dallas Mavericks had both Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson together on their roster. Both have now become bona fide top-10 players in the NBA, and the Mavericks lost them for basically nothing.
Brunson just led the New York Knicks to the first NBA championship since 1973 on his way to being named Finals MVP.
Doncic was just the NBA’s leading scorer last year at 33.5 PPG, more than a full two points ahead of MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Mavericks lost Brunson in free agency, while Nico Harrison convinced Patrick Dumont to trade Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick. A year later, after Harrison’s dismissal, the Mavericks traded Davis to the Washington Wizards for Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Tyus Jones, and Marvin Bagley III, as well as five total draft picks.
Now that a new regime has taken over, no pieces from the Davis trade remain. They’ve all been diverted elsewhere to bring in Santi Aldama, Sergio De Larrea, Tarik Biberovic, and Marcus Sasser.
So, it’s safe to say the Mavericks really had poor asset management. As optimistic as we can be about the direction moving forward, life would be a lot simpler if they kept the two top elite talents they selected in the same draft.
Coaching them for the early part of their tenure was Rick Carlisle, who led the Mavs to an NBA championship in 2011 but has had a lot of success with the Indiana Pacers since leaving Dallas, including an NBA Finals appearance in 2025.
And now, Carlisle has the utmost respect for two of his former young players.
Rick Carlisle recently appeared on the “Draymond Green Show,” where he talked about what it was like to coach Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson.
“He’s a guy that figures s**t out, his resourcefulness as a player is one of his great strengths,” Carlisle said on Brunson. “He adjusts to the situation. Jay [Wright, Brunson’s coach at Villanova] was talking about [how] he was a stubborn competitor, he just had this belief system in himself.”
On Doncic, Carlisle said, “When Luka came, I wasn’t really sure what position he was gonna be. I thought he was probably going to be a three-man because he was almost 6’8”. He kept saying he’s a point guard, and after 8 or 10 games, we put him at point. From a talent standpoint, an ability, and everything else, he’s the most unique player I’ve ever worked with. I mean, he’s just so, so good, and he’s a killer competitor, too.
“You put the right guys around him, I defy you to figure out a way to beat him, ’cause he is smart as hell, he knows every trick in the book, and he knows how to win.
And then Carlisle sticks the knife in Mavericks fans’ hearts.
“Those two guys, if they had stayed together, wow. The possibilities of things that could’ve happened.”
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